


Kiss me, Spidey!

by CallMeHopeless



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Comic Con, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Meet-Cute, Online Communication, Strangers Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 22:44:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15567996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallMeHopeless/pseuds/CallMeHopeless
Summary: When Arthur has to go to Comic Con in a full King Arthur Cosplay, he doesn't expect much. He especially doesn't expect kissing a total stranger in a Spiderman suit right there in the middle of the Con. He also doesn't expect to become obsessed with finding the stranger after they lose each other at the busy event. But alas, here he is, spending all his time refreshing social media in hopes to get a second chance.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I saw a comic con video of a girl kissing a boy in a Spiderman costume so of course my mind instantly went: JFC I need that as a Merthur AU! So here we are.
> 
> I would like to thank [arthur_pendragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arthur_pendragon/pseuds/arthur_pendragon) for letting me ramble about this idea, for encouraging me to write it even though writing kissing is not my strong suit and for making the prologue much much much better than it was! You're a gem AP!

Arthur closed his eyes the second his mouth touched the soft, plump lips of the other man. He eagerly pressed closer, licking the bottom – or top? It was so hard to tell from this angle – lip of his kissing partner before their tongues met. A low growl escaped his throat and he grasped the other boy's head, trying to pull him closer still. He felt hot all over; he wanted more, needed more. This was not enough. He could faintly hear the people around them cheering them on, but all he could concentrate on was the mouth on his, the way it moved against him. The other boy seemed to echo Arthur's thoughts. because he took hold of Arthur's shoulders and pulled him in. Still not close enough. Arthur was overcome with raw yearning and he couldn't do anything save try to press closer, closer, closer... until his lips were left cold.

 

“M dizzy,” the boy he'd been kissing muttered. “Will you let me down?” Arthur took a moment to register that the boy was addressing not him but his friend, who had been holding him upside down by his ankles and let go immediately.

 

The boy righted himself, raised a hand to his head, and pulled his Spiderman mask back over his mouth. “Come on, mate, let's go or I'll miss the DC panel,” someone whined at the now fully-dressed Spiderman, and before Arthur could say something, anything, the two of them were gone, swallowed up by the massive crowd of superheroes, anime characters and wizards, lost in the busy bustle of London Comic Con.

 


	2. Chapter 2

_One week later..._

 

Arthur didn't even notice Gwaine coming into his room, leaning casually against the door frame and eyeing Arthur suspiciously.

“Mate, don't you think you're being a bit...”

Arthur turned around in his chair, shutting his laptop closed and glared at his friend.

“A bit _what_?” he ground out.

“...intense.” Gwaine finished and raised his eyebrows.

Arthur sighed.

“I don't know. I just... I don't know,” he finally said, throwing his hands in the air.

Gwaine walked into the tiny dorm room and sat down on Arthur's single bed.

“Listen. Comic Con was a week ago. The video of you and Spiderman kissing went fucking viral. If he wanted to contact you, he would've done it.”

 

Arthur deflated a bit and thought back to the five seconds that changed his life. He knew that he was being dramatic. He hadn't even wanted to go to Comic Con but one stupid dare with his mates later and he was not only going to that, they even put him into a costume. Namely that of King Arthur of Camelot.

They thought it was hilarious. Arthur would have thought so, too, if it hadn't been his sorry arse in that heavy chainmail with over 30 degrees in that convention center.

 

He remembered walking about the area with all the stalls that sold all kinds of nerdy stuff. T-Shirts, figurines, board games – even swords and daggers. Arthur just shook his head at all of it. He of course enjoyed superhero movies and playing video games, like any college guy would, but he was more of a... casual fan. Gwaine was the one in the group who insisted on dressing up and spending the whole weekend in the midst of his own kind, fangirling about everything and anything. Arthur really should stop participating in drinking contests when it came to Gwaine but he never could say no to a challenge.

Which was exactly how he got himself into kissing a complete stranger in the middle of comic con.

* * *

 

Arthur was examining a replica of the ' _Death Note_ ' notebook, contemplating on whether or not he should try putting Gwaine's name down in it, when a muffled voice made him look up.

“King Arthur, huh? That has got to be a worse choice than my cosplay considering the heat in here.”

And just like that, Arthur was face to face with a guy in a Spiderman suit. A tall, skinny guy in a Spiderman suit with a rich, deep voice.

Arthur usually didn't engage with people whom he couldn't look in the eye while talking to, but as Peter Parker was kind of the crush of his early teen years and the guy _did_ have a lovely figure and voice, he couldn't help himself.

“Well I don't know,” he said, putting the notebook back and turning around to face Spiderman.

“Depends on who you're feeling sorry for. Me in the chainmail or the people who get to look at all my kingly glory. Because I think it's the latter who are in danger of a heatstroke.”

Spiderman chuckled.

“Ah, so you're a _humble_ king.”

Arthur nodded and let his eyes droop a bit, examining his nails in mock regal-ness.

“I think you'll find that I am actually _under_ stating the effect I have on other people. What can I do? My people need me.”

Another low chuckle that found its way directly into Arthur's nervous system. Either that or the fact that his body felt on high alert and tingly had to be some sort of medical emergency.

“And I think you'll find that people are more in need of a Superhero than a royal prat,” he man with the mask said and Arthur could swear that he actually could _hear_ the man grinning beneath the red mask

He nodded in mock-understanding and said:

“Just think of what we could achieve together. World domination, I'm sure.”

 

Before Spiderman could reply to that, a boy came up and clapped Spidey on the shoulder.

“Oi, mate, I was looking for you. There I was, looking at Funkos and actually telling you which ones I still need so that you can help me find them and you just disappear!”

His eyes fell on Arthur and slightly widened as he looked him up and down.

 

“Ah, I see how it is. Found yourself a Mary Jane to accidentally bump into upside-down later, yeah?”

Spiderman spluttered and Arthur smirked. He couldn't help but like the attention. He also couldn't help the tang of want running through his body at the thought of a Spiderman-kiss. He had watched that scene only about a hundred times after all.

“Will, shut up. I was just talking to... King Arthur here about... the weather.”

 

The intruder – Will – arched an eyebrow and looked between them.

“Ah, yes, of course. The weather.”

Arthur thought that Will would leave so that he could continue his more than pleasant conversation with Spiderman but the guy just kept looking between the two.

“You know,” Will finally muttered.

“I would have _no_ problem at all watching you two Spidey-kiss.”

 

Spiderman spluttered again but before he could say anything, two girls in Anime Cosplay came up to them rather excitedly.

“You two are doing a Spidey Kiss? Aww that is so cute. Mind if we film it?”

Soon they were surrounded by about twenty people, most of them chanting “KISS” rather enthusiastically and Arthur would have given anything in that moment to be able to see the other man's face. To know what he's thinking. He himself was certainly up for it, muttering "fine by me," but feeling rather nervous when the other boy didn't say anything at all.

He waited for any kind of reaction from Spiderman, who finally just shrugged.

“It's what one does at Comic Con, right?” he mumbled and elbowed Will.

“I'm gonna do a handstand, can you hook my legs over your shoulders and hold on so I don't fall?”

Will showed him his most enthusiastic grin and gave a thumbs up.

“Yessir!”

And before Arthur knew what was happening, he fell to his knees, softly rolled the Spiderman mask up (down) to reveal beautiful rosy lips and leaned in...

* * *

 

And then his mystery Spiderman was gone. Sure, they only had known each other for... a minute? Before passionately snogging on the dirty convention hall floor but Arthur couldn't get him out of his head. Still felt a tingle down his spine when he remembered the kiss. When he remembered the boy's voice, the laugh, the banter.

Gwaine had only found his way back to him after the scene but helped Arthur search for Spiderman the rest of the day which proved to be rather difficult with more than ten thousand people in the center. Spiderman could have been anywhere.

 

To make it worse, videos from all angles had appeared on the internet afterwards, showing Arthur just how into the kiss he'd been and how absolutely devastated he'd looked when it was over.

He still saved every single video he came across and with Gwaine's help, posted a “Lost Connection” ad on every single social media site known to man. It wasn't his fault that he'd gotten addicted to refreshing them all, not wanting to miss a single notification in case it was _him_.

Maybe Gwaine was right. Maybe he had lost his marbles and spending all day in his room refreshing ten websites in turn just to find his inboxes empty wasn't healthy behaviour.

He simply couldn't help it. He had never felt such a strong connection to anyone in his life and he would never forgive himself if he didn't at least try to find his very personal superhero.

Granted, maybe he would find Spiderman and they would hate each other once they got to properly talk. But somehow Arthur doubted that. There had been something about the boy that drew Arthur in. Even with the mask and suit in place. Something that Arthur couldn't quite put his finger on. He only knew that he _had_ to find him or at least do anything in his might to try. 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Merlin woke up sweating and breathing hard. Granted, it was summer and the room was exceptionally hot but that didn't quite explain why his heart was racing or why he felt unable to breathe. What did explain that however, was the dream he'd just woken up from.

He'd dreamt about blue eyes and firm lips and a tongue that knew exactly what it was doing – again.

 

Ever since he'd attended Comic Con in London the weekend before, Merlin was unable to stop thinking about that kiss he'd shared with the handsome stranger. Not only because a film-worthy Spiderman kiss had been one of his all time fantasies but because the stranger had made him feel... _things_. Things he hadn't felt since... he started and sat up, eyes wide. He couldn't remember ever feeling like that at all.

“Oh fuck,” he muttered and got out of bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Fuck, fuck fuck,” he sighed as he trotted into the bathroom to get dressed and ready for uni. 

He really had to stop thinking about _him_ , he firmly told himself.

It was over. Just one face in a huge crowd and honestly, the other guy was so good looking Merlin didn't think he would even remember him. That didn't stop Merlin from remembering his King Arthur of Camelot, however.

 

He was pulled out of his daydream by loud knocking on the front door.

“I'll go,” he shouted in the direction of the kitchen where his mother Hunith was preparing breakfast and hurried to open the door.

“Hey Will,” he grinned while his best friend only grunted and walked in. Will sniffed the air.

“Do I smell bacon and eggs?” he asked dreamily and Merlin chuckled.

“Come on then.”

 

Finally seated at the dining room table, the boys started devouring the breakfast Merlin's mum had made before she waved them good-bye and went to work. Will waited patiently for the door to fall shut, before he hurried to get the messenger bag he'd brought with him.

“So I had a couple of photos developed from the weekend,” he smiled a wide smile and Merlin just shook his head.

“I will never understand why you insist on running around with your grandma's ancient camera that still uses film. There are such things as digital cameras, you know? Mobile phones?”

“Hush,” Will mumbled while sorting through his bag.

“And don't you lecture me about staying old school Mr. I don't have any social media either and still have a phone without internet.”

Merlin couldn't very well argue with that. He just never really saw the appeal. Social Media? He really didn't want to keep in touch with any of the kids that used to bully him during high school, thank you very much. Online banking? Sure, just so someone could steal his passwords, hack his account and steal his hard earned money? He didn't think so. 

 

It wasn't that Merlin was wary of the internet per say, it was more that he thought that he honestly was better off without it. His best friend didn't use it much either after all, as evidenced by Will's old school method of taking photographs. Besides, the only time the two of them really actually needed it was when tickets for Comic Con went on sale and they usually use their friend Freya's computer for that (even though she insisted that she had to delete her browsing history _again_ , afterwards: “Seriously guys, what if I die in a horrible car accident and someone sees that I bought tickets to Comic Con of all things?”).

 

Will finally found what he was looking for and produced a smallish envelope containing the aforementioned photographs. He handed them to Merlin.

“These are yours,” he said happily.

“Cheers,” Merlin replied absent-mindedly while taking the pictures eagerly. He would never admit it out loud but he actually enjoyed having a stack of actual photographs of his most treasured moments. He liked putting them up on his wall.

He flicked through the pictures, smiling. There he was as Spiderman. Mask on, fully dressed with two other Spiderman Cosplayer he'd seen. Then there was him – mask off – smiling with Will as they excitedly entered the main hall. Him again with other avengers and him trying to climb up a wall (he thought it would look cool in the moment. Now, seeing the actual picture, he realised that it was not). And then, his breath caught and he almost choked on his own spit, spluttering. Because there he was, calves hooked over Will's shoulders (who gave an enthusiastic thumbs up into the camera), on his hands on the floor, lips firmly attached to _him_. Merlin let all the other photographs sink onto the table as he took this one picture in. Even though he couldn't see his own face, he knew exactly in which moment this was taken. This was the moment where he'd just trusted Will enough to hold him up to cup the stranger's head and pull him closer. King Arthur's eyes were shut close and Merlin simply couldn't stop staring at how they looked like kissing on the floor like that.

 

King Arthur was on his knees, getting his precious costume dirty but he didn't seem to mind, Merlin thought. The stranger looked like he was enjoying himself, which sent a shiver down Merlin's neck.

He had no idea how long he'd been staring at the photograph, when Will snapped his fingers in front of him.

  
“Merls? Merlin? Come on, mate. I know that was the highlight of your life but we have to go or we'll be late to our first class.”

 

Merlin snapped out of it and quickly pushed all the photographs back into the envelope. He was flushed and red in the face but knew that Will was right. It was a 30 minute drive to their university. Since they both got into the University of Camelot, neither of them thought it would make sense to move out of their family homes in the tiny town of Ealdor. Merlin was especially glad because he did like to keep an eye on his mum if he was being completely honest. She hadn't really gone out and dated since his father had left them almost a decade ago and he really didn't want her living on her own completely. Plus, his best friend was still here and said best friend came to pick him up every morning with his car so that the two of them could sing loudly to the playlist of the day until arriving for their first class. All in all, Merlin was quite content with his situation.

 

Although... he couldn't get that photo out of his head.

“How did you even take it?” he asked about 10 minutes later, firmly seated in Will's car in the middle of _the Cure's_ 'Friday I'm in Love'.

Will smirked and stopped singing along, turning the volume down.

“I figured you'd still be thinking about that photograph. Jesus, Merls, if I'd known I could render you speechless with one single photo I would have brought a hundred.”

“How did you take it?” Merlin asked again.

Will sighed.

“I asked one of the onlookers to take it. I'm actually quite happy about how it turned out. You know amateurs who only know how to work a phone camera, the pictures often turn out blurry, but that picture is...”

“Perfect.”

Will smiled softly.

“Yeah mate,” he paused.

“I'm really sorry I dragged you to that panel. I only got just how into each other you two were when I saw the proper picture later. I should have...” he paused again and sighed.

“I'm really sorry if I fucked up your chances of meeting your future husband or anything.”

 

Merlin snorted.

“Don't be silly, Will. It was... a nice snog. With a stranger. I don't know the guy.”

“Uh-huh. Because you randomly snog people. In general. Let's be real, Merlin, that was your – what? - third kiss in total?”

Merlin shrugged as if to ask 'so what?' but kept silent.

“It's not like you to just go around snogging blokes and I sincerely hope that I didn't make you do anything you didn't want to do. I just... damnit I saw him and I was like god he looks good.”

Merlin chuckled.

“Says the straight guy.”

“Straight, not blind, though. And I figured you're my best mate, yeah? And you could totally use some hot action. So I went for it.”

Merlin nodded, smiling.

“I'm glad you did actually, cheers Will,” he mumbled while looking dreamily out of the window.

 

It was true. He was one of those rare people who hadn't had a proper boyfriend yet and had only shared drunken kisses with friends at the age of 22. That didn't mean he didn't dream. Dream about that one person who took his breath away and that he'd never want to stop kissing.

Too bad that person turned out to be a guy he'd met for two minutes, then snogged and then lost out of his sight completely.

Just as well, he thought. Obviously it wasn't the right guy or the right moment because more would have happened. They could've seen each other again that day. They could've exchanged numbers...

“C'est la vie,” he muttered in Will's direction who just snorted and mumbled:

“Dramatic git,” back in a fond tone and turned up the volume of their music again. 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Arthur knew that his manhunt was getting out of hand. He knew that he was obsessing. He just couldn't get the pictures out of his head; and pictures existed plenty.

He felt like he was able to find a new picture or video showing the whole kissing scene from a different angle every day and his heart beat faster everytime he saw it. Everytime he saw him. Even though the only real thing he's ever seen of _him_ was his mouth. His lovely, lovely lips and lopsided upside-down smile. God, how he'd started to gush over that smile. He was in so deep that even his friends had deserted him.

 

The moment Arthur had stopped showing interest in anyone while out with his friends made Gwaine absolutely furious. Just last night, he'd said: “Arthur watching you devastates me. If he wanted to contact you, he would have. It's been weeks now, mate. Move on. You didn't even look twice at the bar keeper who was obviously flirting with you and I just...” he'd sighed, “I just don't understand you anymore. What is it about him?”

Arthur had just shrugged because he had no idea.

 

That evening, he'd went home early – alone, as he so often did these days – and sat at his laptop scrolling through his social media sites until morning. Nothing.

 

But he wasn't one to give up and his stubbornness made him go that extra mile. The next morning, he sat down in front of his laptop, cracked his knuckles and mumbled to himself: “Here goes nothing,” before opening up Facebook first.

 

He posted a picture of him and Spiderman on his profile and wrote:

 

_Hi everyone!_

_This is me making the pathetic attempt to find 'Spiderman'. We met at London Film and Comic Con a couple of weeks ago and I'd like to think that we hit it off. Spiderman, if you're reading this, I would really love to talk to you again. Please contact me._

 

He copied the text and posted it not only to the Facebook page of the Comic Con but on various Lost Connection pages he was able to find within the London area. For a moment, he stopped to think and decided to post it to Lost Connection sites all over the country because he couldn't for the life of him remember if Spiderman was actually from London.

 

For a moment he even contemplated placing an add in the Metro and already started thinking up a text in the direction of: _You - in a Spiderman suit, amazing kisser, adorable voice. Me - royal prat (your words), would like to kiss you again. If you read this, please meet me at Leicester Square at 8pm tomorrow and let me buy you a drink before letting me snog you thoroughly - again._

But he decided that that would be taking it a bit far. He wrote the text down anyway, keeping it for when he got truly desperate.

 

Next, he went to Twitter, again posting one of the pictures and typed:

_WANTED: Spiderman. Contact me if you want a repeat performance – your prince Arthur._

 

He posted something similar on every site he could think of and sat back, feeling satisfied.

 

He was still smiling when he poured himself a cup of coffee, when his phone rang and his face fell.

He'd been so enthusiastic that he didn't stop to think that his family would see the pictures as well as they were all on Facebook.

“Oh bugger,” he murmured before answering the phone.

“Hey Morgana,” he said grimacing and taking a sip of his coffee.

 

“Hi Arthur,” he could hear her smiling over the phone.

“Looking for your personal superhero, are you?”

Arthur groaned.

“Oh shut it,” he muttered when she started to laugh.

“I just... I really...” he sighed. Taking to his sister shouldn't be this hard for him but his obsession made him feel uncomfortable and he had no idea if he could handle her taking the piss.

“He looks lovely,” Morgana said instead.

Arthur paused.

“He is, he was.”

“Why didn't you exchange numbers?”

Arthur sighed.

“I don't know. The kiss ended and we had this... moment, this spark,” he cringed at his own words, “and his friend dragged him away before I could get my wits back. I spent all day looking for him but to no avail.”

“And social media isn't helping either?” he couldn't actually believe that Morgana seemed to be supportive of his actions. He decided to stay vigilante.

“Not so far, no.”

“Maybe he hasn't seen it.”

“There are pictures all over the internet, I am quite sure he's seen them.”

Morgana was silent for a moment.

“I just want you to be happy, Arthur.”

Arthur rolled his eyes.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“That you look extremely lovesick and happy in that picture I saw and it breaks my heart, is all.”

Arthur made a gagging noise.

“Would you please stop being so nice to me. It doesn't suit you.”

Morgana laughed.

“Very well then,” she said airily, “I am also calling to remind you of lunch with me and Uther on Wednesday. Don't you dare be late. Oh and Arthur? He won't be as happy with the picture as I am. And you know how attached he is to his Facebook app since he's gotten an iPhone.”

 

That, Arthur needn't be reminded of. His father had become especially obnoxious since joining the web that was social media and it was testing Arthur's last nerve. He had to explain every single post to his father, every single picture he uploaded or was tagged in... he could only imagine what he had to say about his comic con adventure but he found that he didn't care much. Not if it got him Spiderman's telephone number in the end.

 

He said goodbye to his sister and went back to his laptop, eyes widening in disbelief as he took the notifications in that seemed to overtake his laptop.

 

In the past ten minutes, he had more than a hundred retweets, shares and reblogs from people he didn't know. All of them being supportive and adding things such as:

 

_'Let's find the Spiderman to his Prince, gang!'_

_'True Love right here, I ship it!'_

_'Spiderman, don't be a dolt and CALL HIM'_

_'Who needs MJ when you get yourself a Prince like that?'_

 

and many more. He couldn't help but laugh as he read through all of them.

Well, Spiderman couldn't very well ignore him _now_ , could he?

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am honestly SO sorry it took me this long. Please forgive me, friends. Thank you for sticking around.

Will bit his lip in thought as he stared at the ancient computer in the library. Merlin was sitting next to him, trying not to laugh at Will's expression and read the newest book of a fantasy series he adored.

 

“You wanna do MCM?” Will asked when he looked up.

“Hm?”

“The Con. I mean I know we've just been in London but they've some great guests coming and I think I -”

Will didn't even have to say anything else because Merlin was already sitting upright in his chair.

“Comic convention in London and you ask me if I want to go?” he asked incredulously, like his best friend should know better than that.

Will looked at him with sad eyes.

“I know, I was thinking that but... will you be sad if he's not there?”

It was Merlin's turn to think it over. He'd been obsessing over this one encounter with a stranger for over two months now and it didn't seem to get any easier for him. Even his mother had noticed that something was up – not that he'd ever tell her that story, mind.

 

Finally, he nodded and slumped back in his chair.

“Yeah, yeah it will be good. Because, you know... closure and all that? Because if we go now and he's not there I will be sad but if we don't go I'll carry this feeling around with me until next summer and then be sad.”

 

“Or, you could just try to get over him,” Will suggested and grimaced, “sorry, that wasn't very supportive of me, was it? I just absolutely hate seeing you like this.”

Merlin smiled at him.

“I know how you meant it, thanks. But yeah I think I'd like to go, if you're up for it.”

 

“Are you kidding?” Will laughed excitedly, “when have I ever not been up for a comic con?”

He grinned as he got out his ancient mobile phone and sent an actual text message to Freya, saying:

 

_We need your computer, please._

 

_*****_   
  
Freya flipped her hair back over her shoulder before getting out her new notebook. She glared at them while Merlin and Will were smiling excitedly at her.

 

“Thank you Freya,” Merlin said in a sing-song voice. He couldn't stop thinking about getting to go again and was debating whether or not to wear the Spiderman costume again just in case he was there. Because he would obviously not recognise him without it. He was quite sure that he would know if his Prince Arthur stood in front of him, he kept the photo inside his diary after all and looked at it every day. He felt like he knew everything about him by now. The line of his shoulders, the sharp edges of his jaw, every single strand of hair... He shook his head quickly and started to concentrate on the task at hand.

 

Freya was starting up the laptop and squinted at them.

“Honestly, how can you two go to so many of those conventions?” her face cleared and she looked thoughtful for a second, before she began to smile. 

“Although, there is this instagram video that's all over the place of two guys kissing at one of those. Maybe I should come along sometime after all.”

 

Merlin's heart immediately sped up. Before he could say anything, ask anything, Will had beaten him to it:

 

“What did the two guys look like?”

 

Freya wrinkled her forehead in thought.

“Well, they were both in costume. One looked like he was a magician and I'd say the other one must've been some sort of robot.”

 

Just like that, Merlin deflated again. He had no idea why he'd hoped that it had been him and his prince except that he would have loved to see a video of the scene. Or anything, really. Anything more than he'd already had. Though he was happy about the photograph, he really was. He turned to Will and smiled at him. His friend looked devastated himself.

“Sorry Merls,” he muttered. 

“That's fine, I-”

 

“Here you go, lads,” Freya said and pushed her laptop over so that Will could open the Comic Con webpage and order the tickets. 

 

Merlin smiled at Freya in the meantime, an awkward silence stretching between them now that Merlin didn't feel much like talking anymore.

 

“So, do you two dress up for these things?” she looked at them with a grin and a sparkle in her eye.

 

Will snorted. 

“No? Can you imagine? What would I even go as?”

 

Freya shrugged.

“The cookie monster?”

 

Will stopped typing and shot her a poisonous look, then addressed Merlin:

“Do you want to do Friday to Sunday? Should we get a hotel or something?”

 

Merlin looked at Freya carefully. They usually only went for one day, but Merlin thought that his chanced tripled if he went to all three days.

 

“Make it all three days and I'll see if my uncle is home so we can sleep over at his place,” he mumbled and was thankful when Will didn't comment but just nodded and continued typing.

 

Five minutes later, he shut the laptop closed and cracked his knuckles, smiling widely.

 

“All done! Comic Con, here we come!”

 

Freya snorted.

 

“You two are such nerds.”

 

“We know!” Merlin and Will said in unison and fist-bumped each other, which set them off in a fit of laughter and made Freya shake her head.

 

“See you later, geeks.”

 

They both nodded their goodbyes before Will turned to Merlin.

“Three chances, Merls. Let's find him.”

 

Merlin smiled and had never been this happy to have Will has his best mate by his side. 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this is so short but the next one will be longer, I promise! Only one more and an epilogue to come peeps!

Arthur smiled whenever he opened up his laptop and saw all the lovely messages stream in. Sometimes he felt a bit wary, too, about one of two comments that were just on the wrong side of weird.

 

But in general, the messages he received for wanting to find his Spiderman were supportive and caring and he was so thankful for each and every one of them. In fact, he felt understood. He didn't know if the analogy of the Disney prince fighting for his Disney prince was warranted, though. He didn't do any fighting, after all. He just sat. And waited. And typed. And looked at the photos and videos.

 

A message that he'd received very early on had stayed with him until now:

 

_This is a prime example of love at first sight._

 

Was it though? Arthur scrunched up his nose. He wasn't sure if he was being honest. He knew that he was certainly attracted to Spiderman's voice, form and humour but love? That was a bit far fetched, wasn't it? Arthur was not under the impression that meeting him again would result in a happily ever after. He wasn't even sure it would end happily. After all, the other man could turn out to be a complete idiot once they got to talking properly. He knew that he was in love with the idea of being in love at the first sight. Which was why he couldn't refrain from trying, which is why he felt like a lovesick teenager and which is why he'd gotten a little obsessed in his task.

 

Infatuation at first sight fit the bill much better.

 

There was a sudden knock on his door so Arthur quickly opened up a document with an essay he had to write for one of his classes and called out to whoever was knocking.

 

Gwaine entered with a stern expression on his face.

 

“Look mate,” he said and Arthur sighed.

 

“Not this again Gwaine. I know I am obsessed, I know you're worried, I know you think what I'm doing is mental, I get it.”

 

“Well, yeah,” Gwaine said slowly, closing the door behind him and sitting down on Arthur's bed.

“But I'm actually not here to talk to you about it.”

 

“Hm?” Arthur turned around in his chair and faced his friend, curiosity overtaking him.

 

Gwaine pushed a strand of hair out of his eyes.

 

“Listen. What are you doing this weekend?”

 

Arthur frowned and debated telling Gwaine a white-lie because he certainly didn't feel like going out.

 

“Nothing,” he finally admitted.

 

Gwaine nodded and pulled a folded up paper out of his trouser pocket and threw it to Arthur.

“In that case we're going to Comic Con.”

 

Arthur stared at him.

“Gwaine, Comic Con was barely 3 months ago. It's not until next summer.”

 

He knew. He'd checked.

 

Gwaine nodded.

 

“Yeah, but this is MCM Comic Con. Different Con. Still a popular event, still in London.”

 

Arthur's eyes grew wide as he looked at the paper in front of him.

 

“Do you think he'll be there?” he asked with wide eyes full of hope.

 

Gwaine huffed.

 

“God, I hope so. I hope he's there and either turns out to be lovely or a complete douche but either way, enough already with the bloody pining.”

 

Arthur grinned at his friend and threw himself on him, throwing his hands around Gwaine's neck.

 

“Thank you Gwaine, for being such a good friend,” he huffed out while Gwaine tried to disentangle himself.

 

“No, I'm a fed up friend. But either way, we're going. Besides, who am I to turn down dressing up as the handsome half-naked elf that I obviously am destined to be,” he winked at Arthur before getting up and leaving.

 

“Get your costume ready, Pendragon. We're gonna catch us a spider.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading guys, it means a lot <3

Merlin was nervous. He hadn't really slept since they'd bought their tickets to comic con, but now that they were here, now that they were actually in line to be let in, his nervous energy knew no bounds. He kept rocking back and forth on his heels while tearing at his mask that he was still holding in his hands. The rest of him was already in Spiderman costume, but he felt like he needed to breathe freely and not through a very thin layer of cloth for just a couple of minutes longer.

 

One glance to his side told him that Will wasn't feeling anything like him. There was a huge smile plastered onto his best mate's face as he took in all the cosplayers in line around them.

 

“Look, Merls! It's Elsa,” he said excitedly and Merlin couldn't help but laugh. Will would never admit to it but he was quite into Disney films and seeing pretty girls dressed up as the heroines never failed to make him flail. He pointed into another direction: “Rapunzel, too,” he pointed out and watched Will's eyes grow wide. He turned to Merlin and stopped short, frowned.

 

“Why do you look so anxious?”

 

Merlin shrugged.

“Because I am, you dolt.”

Granted, it was only Friday. The chances that he would run into his Prince Arthur weren't the best, mainly because Fridays were generally less busy what with people having to work or uni. But Merlin could hope.

 

Finally, they were let in and his eyes grew wide. He loved this moment. The first moment of walking into a comic convention and being so absolutely overwhelmed by all of the colours and booths and screens and cosplayers mingling about. It put a damper on his anxiety and he did have to grin.

 

“I just love it here,” he said to Will who nodded back enthusiastically.

 

“Me, too.”

 

______________________________________________________________  
  
They'd spend almost the whole day at the con, trying out every single game that was on offer and taking pictures with other people who'd dressed up as characters. Will even bought a figurine of an anime character for his collection.

 

Merlin found himself lounging around the booths, trying and hoping to see shiny blond hair and blue eyes but so far, nothing.

 

They decided to grab some dinner before driving home and were in line at a food truck that sold all kinds of japanese goodness, when two girls approached them.

 

“Oh my god, you're him, aren't you?” one of them asked excitedly. Merlin just stared at her in confusion before Will piped up:

 

“He's who exactly?”

 

The other girl, who looked just as excited as the first, replied:

“Well, it's you both really, aren't you? The bloked from that kissing video?”

Merlin and Will looked at each other and Will pulled a face. Merlin would have done that, too, if he thought that it would have an effect but that was lost behind his mask.

“I can assure you, we have never kissed in our lives.”

 

The first girl giggled.

“No, no. I mean you held him,” she pointed at Merlin, “up so he could Spidey-kiss the Prince.”

 

Merlin's eyes grew wide and he immediately felt his heart beat faster.

 

“What?” he whispered, not really contemplating what he was hearing.

 

“Hold on,” one of the girls said, biting her lip in thought and pulled out her phone. She tapped on it for a minute and then held it out to Merlin who saw... himself, enthusiastically snogging prince Arthur. _In video._

 

He pulled his mask off, suddenly feeling unable to breathe.

 

“Where did you get this?”

 

The girl shrugged.

“They're all over the internet really, the guy has been looking for you, he-” she broke off and squinted her eyes at Merlin.

“You know it's not nice that you have never replied to any of it. He probably thinks you're rejecting him and that's a dick move,” she said and stabbed her forefinger into Merlin's chest threateningly.

 

Merlin was at a complete loss at what to say.

“He's been looking for me?” he just asked and that's when the poking stopped and the girl's eyes widened.

 

“You mean you don't know?”

 

Merlin quickly shook his head.

“No. Show me?” he pleaded, though what he was pleading for he wasn't sure.

 

The girl started tapping again and showed him photos, videos and even messages that his Prince had apparently posted on the internet in hopes of finding him.

 

Merlin's head was reeling at the time and the effort Prince Arthur had put into his search and for the first time in his life, he hated himself for not having a phone or laptop.

 

He heard Will whistle behind him.

“Mate, I think finding him won't be that much of a challenge as we'd initially thought.”

 

The girls looked at each other and then back at Merlin and Will.

 

“Do you guys want us to contact him?”

 

Merlin didn't even have to think about it.

 

“Yes.”

 

_____________________________________________________________  
  
Arthur was idly playing with his phone, his suit of armour getting in his way more often than not. Even though it was October, he felt too hot, too heavy and too bloody uncomfortable. Day one of the convention was almost over and he couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment that he hadn't found what he'd been looking for.

 

His phone chimed with a new notification. He'd been tagged in a tweet by a username he hadn't seen before. He clicked on it and all of his energy came back with a rush.

 

There was a picture attached showing two girls, and... Spiderman and Spiderman's friend. They were all laughing into the camera (Arthur assumed Spiderman was laughing, of course he couldn't see under that mask) and the caption said:

 

_Look who we ran into. We're at the onigiri food truck. Come quick little prince!_

 

Arthur stood up from the table so abruptly, that the whole table shook which earned him a disapproving look from Gwaine who'd been mid-ramble about a female elf who didn't want his phone number.

“I've found him,” he just said as an explanation before rushing off. He didn't care much if Gwaine followed him or not, he just knew he had to be at the onigiri food truck asap.

 

When he felt like his chainmail was making him slower, he stopped for a second to pull it over his head. He knew that he was just wearing a plain white t-shirt underneath and was sweaty but the urgency of his quest made him toss the heavy garment aside, not even caring where it landed.

 

“Oi,” he heard Gwaine call behind him who'd obviously been trying to catch up with him.

“Dont just toss my chainmail around, tosser!”

 

Arthur would have replied something witty, if he'd not felt this urgent need to find him, to see him, to see if there was something between them.

 

He rounded the corner of the food truck and let his gaze wander over the cheap tables at which people sat to enjoy their meals.

 

He head someone laugh and whirled around at the sound of it, his eyes landing straight on... the most gorgeous man he'd ever seen.

 

He wasn't wearing his mask as he was currently stuffing his face with one of the large rice rectangles. He looked at one of the girls from the picture and still grinned with an easy upward motion of his lips.

 

He was absolutely breathtaking.

 

“What are you waiting for?”

A voice behind him asked and when he turned around, he came face to face with Spiderman's friend, who was looking at him calculatingly.

 

“Hi,” Arthur said, that being the best thing he was able to come up with but it made the other guy squint his eyes at him.

“You're not changing your mind, are you?”

Arthur made a choking sound at the back of his throat.

“No,” he whined and looked back at the man who'd occupied his mind for two whole months. With a start, he noticed that a couple of rice grains were stuck to the boy's cheek and if that wasn't the most adorable thing he'd ever seen...

He made himself turn back to the friend, who'd raised an eyebrow at him.

Arthur huffed.

“Look,” he mumbled and ran a hand through his hair, “I don't.. he's all I've thought about since... since that day.”

 

The friend's eyes seemed to relaxed a bit as he kept them firmly on Arthur's face.

“I've tried everything to find him, my friends called me obsessive more than once... I kept... I kept replaying all of the videos I could find online, saved all the pictures and... came here today just because I'd been hoping to find him. And now I... I think about why he didn't write back. Why he didn't respond to any of my attempts to reach him and I...”

he had absolutely no idea why he was telling all of this to the guys friend. He honestly didn't. He just felt like he had to get it off his chest or he might burst.

“And then I see him and he isn't wearing a mask and he's so much more gorgeous than I thought he would be and I'm... just really nervous,” he ended with a long sigh.

 

Silence stretched between them, in which none of them said anything.

 

“Oh boy, you're just as whipped as he is.”

 

Arthur's head shot up and he tried to figure out if the guy was taking the piss, but he seemed serious. He held his hand out for Arthur to shake.

 

“Will. I'm Merlin's best friend and I had to listen to him mope about you for two months. He hasn't responded to any of your posts because I am only just refraining from asking you what a freaking post is. We're not... the most digital sort. In fact, we have to ask out friend to order things for us because we don't have laptops ourselves,” he explained and Arthur's eyes widened.

 

“So. I think you should go over and just plant one on him because I swear to you, he won't object,” Will finished good naturedly and clasped Arthur on his shoulder.

 

Arthur studied him once more, before letting his eyes stray back to the guy's – Merlin's? - face. He was just finishing up his onigiri, rise still sticking to his cheek.

 

He nodded at Will once and made himself move into Merlin's direction. He navigated between the tables and came to a stand still behind Merlin.

 

When the girls saw him, their eyes grew wide.

 

“What is it?” Merlin asked before turning around and then their eyes met.

 

Arthur didn't quite know what he was doing, feeling absolutely hypnotised by the blue that he was currently drowning in. He leaned down and smiled what he hoped looked somewhat seductive.

  
“You've rice on your cheek,” he said and started to wipe his thumb over it. He didn't plan on doing it, but suddenly his lips joined his finger as he kissed Merlin's cheek once, twice, three times before pulling away.

 

Merlin opened his eyes, having closed them at one point and he looked dazedly at Arthur.

 

“Thank you?” he croaked and Arthur giggled. He gesticulated to the spot next to Merlin's and looked around for Will who just gave him a thumbs up and decided to sit somewhere else as their table was now full.

“I'm Arthur,” he said, being properly seated.

Merlin snorted.

“No, you're not. Real names or we're not doing this,” he gesticulated between them, “whatever this is.”

 

Arthur laughed out loud.

“No, really,” he got his wallet out and presented his ID to Merlin.

“I'm Arthur.”

Merlin's eyes grew wide as he too, started to laugh.

“No way, I have been referring to you as Prince Arthur in my head,” he giggled.

 

“Prince, huh? I could get used to that,” Arthur grinned.

 

“Don't flatter yourself. I'm Merlin.”

 

Arthur merely nodded.

“So your friend, Will, said.”

 

Merlin immediately started looking around for Will and found him watching them intently from a table away. His eyes then landed on the two girls in front of him who were watching them with open curiosity.

Suddenly, he felt quite embarrassed.

 

“Do you maybe want to talk somewhere else?” he asked shyly.

 

Arthur nodded, following his glance, and made to stand up.

 

Together they made their way into the courtyard of the convention center where Cosplayers were too engrossed in taking pictures of their costumes to pay them much mind.

 

“I heard you were looking for me,” Merlin broke the silence but didn't dare to look at Arthur.

Arthur nodded and swallowed audibly. He reached over and took Merlin's hand, encouraged by the things Will had told him.

“I was. I couldn't stop thinking about you. Not for one moment. Over the past two months. That's quite pathetic, isn't it?”

 

Merlin laughed and looked at their joined hands before directing his gaze at Arthur's face, smiling. He pulled Arthur against the side of the Convention center so he could lean at the wall, mainly to make himself feel a little supported, a little less like his knee's would give out at any second.

 

“I couldn't stop thinking about you, either,” he admitted and felt his knees shake even more violently.

 

Arthur smiled at him and took a step closer, effectively crowding him against the wall.

 

“Does that mean I can kiss you again?”

 

Merlin nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

 

Arthur smiled and brushed Merlin's bangs out of his face.

 

“Will you give me your phone number first so that I can bloody reach you should we be seperated again?”

 

Merlin nodded again and quickly got his ancient mobile out at which Arthur laughed.

“Jesus, Merlin. Will said that you two weren't tech-fans but that looks like it'll fall apart any second!” he laughed.

 

Merlin smiled.

 

“I'll just have to give you my home phone number and my e-mail too, then? Just in case it does... fall apart?”

 

Arthur nodded seriously.

 

“Yeah I should think you better.”

 

Merlin huffed, a smile playing around his lips as he gave Arthur all of his information and Arthur called him on his mobile so that he would have the number as well.

 

“Will you text me?”

 

“Constantly,” Merlin promised.

 

And then, only then, finally, did Arthur lean forward and press their lips together softly. Merlin quickly put his phone back into his pocket before sneaking his arms around Arthur's neck and kissing back as enthusiastically as he could.

 

He had no idea how long the two of them had been standing there until there was an announcement over the loudspeakers that the convention would be closing for the day in a couple of minutes.

 

They looked at each other and Merlin couldn't help but feel regret at the idea that he'd have to wait until tomorrow to see Arthur again.

 

“Go out with me,” he blurted and was quite surprised by his own forward-ness.

 

“Now?”

 

Merlin nodded and a huge smile grew on Arthur's face.

 

“I'd love to. I just have to...tell Gwaine, my friend,” he said and pulled out his phone to dial Gwaine's number. Merlin did the same only with Will, who promised him that he'd be fine because he would be going out with the girls they'd met earlier anyway.

 

When Merlin got off the phone, Arthur was smiling at him and holding out his hand.

 

“Lead the way,” he said as Merlin gripped it and together they left the premise.

 

Merlin had no idea where they were going but he didn't really care. Seeing Arthur again was more than enough for him because the strong connection that he'd felt was still there. Still exciting and still nerve wrecking. He just wanted to spend more time with him whether it was at a fancy restaurant, a dodgy pub or on a parkbench overlooking the thames.

 

He just wanted to be with him.

 

Judging by how tightly Arthur gripped his hand, he thought that the other boy must feel the same.

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________  
  
 **Epilogue, 2 years later.**

 

“Are you sure you're going to be alright, mum?” Merlin asked while heaving a large box through the living room.

 

His mother grinned at him and shook his head.

“Of course I'll be alright. I didn't imagine you living here forever after all. Now go, he's probably already waiting for you.”

 

True enough, when Merlin opened the door, Arthur was already there, sitting in a huge van with Gwaine.

 

“What's taking you so long, Merlin?” he shouted in his direction but jumped out to help Merlin with the box.

 

“Prat. You don't move out every day, you know. Let me be a bit wistful.”

 

Arthur laughed and pecked Merlin on the lips.

 

“I know, babe, I'm sorry. I'm just very excited because it's good bye stinking old dorm rooms for me.”

 

Merlin could understand that. He'd only spend a little time in Arthur's tiny room on a London campus but it had been quite enough.

 

“I'm excited, too,” he muttered and realised that he truly was.

 

It had taken them a long time to find that perfect flat. And now they had. He still couldn't believe that this was happening.

 

That evening, when they were sitting in their own flat, surrounded by moving boxes and drinking some tea, Arthur suddenly jumped up.

 

“Aha, I've got something for you,” he murmured and pulled a wrapped package out of his bag.

 

Merlin opened it carefully and discovered a familiar framed picture of themselves two years prior. Him in Spiderman costume, being held upside down by a thumbs-up giving Will, fully engrossed in kissing a stranger in a Prince costume.

 

“This is Will's picture,” he murmured and let his hand softly stroke the glass which covered the picture.

 

Arthur nodded.

“He had it enlarged and gave it to me as a housewarming gift. Said that he thought it would look good on the mantlepiece.”

 

Merlin snorted.

 

“He just wanted us to hang a picture of him in our flat,” he said while looking at Will's smiling face on the photo.

 

“And get credit for all of this,” Arthur added and gesticulated around them, grinning.

 

Merlin laughed and leaned over to kiss Arthur soundly on the lips.

 

“I think we better keep this in the bedroom, yeah?”

 

Arthur said nothing but instead pulled him back in for another kiss.

 

Merlin couldn't wait for this to be his life. He couldn't wait to wake up with Arthur and seeing him when he got home from his new job in the city. He couldn't wait for the love story of Spiderman and Prince Arthur to continue.

 


End file.
